Scarred
by Bubblegum Thai
Summary: DEATHFIC. Sequel to Wait and see. Duo and Areia get caught and tortured. Will they both be able to hold on, or is one slipping through the other's fingers?


Disclaimer: I don't own Gundam Wing or any of its characters. However . . . Areia is MINE! All mine! Authors note: Ok . . . so . . . for a fic set at Christmas this gets kinda dark at times . . . hehe . . . I'm talking blood, mentions of rape, torture the whole nine yards! I'm talking nasty stuff happening to some of our most beloved Preventers officers! ::sobs:: I'm sorry! Please forgive me! Anyways . . . this is a sequel, but . . . I guess you don't really need to of read 'Wait and see' to understand it. Please enjoy!  
  
Warning: DEATHFIC!  
  
Scarred.  
  
By Bubblegum Thai.  
  
As light flooded her senses, pain shot through Areia's head, causing her to curl from the strain. The bright, hot lamp that was directed at her face burned against her pale skin. As she tried to sit up from the cold, concrete blood that reeked of the distinct 'aroma' of blood, she found herself bound. A snake of rope rubbing against both her wrists and ankles. Her eyes slowly became accustomed to the light and as she shifted her throbbing head, she found that she lay on her side, on a grey floor in a small bunker. The group of men, their clothes dirty and old gathered around what appeared to be someone sitting in a chair. A familiar voice groaned and Areia went to call for her best friend, however, only a small squeak escaped, causing one of the men to turn. His face was covered with a handkerchief, his eyes cold and a dim green. Trowa's eyes were green, and for some reason when he fixed her with a stare, it felt as if she were being stabbed in the heart. Whimpering slightly, she withdrew as he stepped forwards, steel-toed boots getting closer to her face before they stopped, directly in front of her. Reaching down, a hand covered in short, stubbly greyish-brown hairs grabbed her by the shirt and pulled her up so they were eye level. As he body was hoisted into the air, more pain flowed through her veins, causing her to gasp as agony burned as if travelling in her blood. She grit her teeth, her eyes squeezed shut as more pain continued to pour into ever nook and cranny of her figure,  
  
"She's awake." He sneered. Even through the cloth, Areia could smell the sent of alcohol and smoke on his breath. She coughed slightly, the toxins from the man's breath suffocating her as she struggled for breath,  
  
"Areia!" Croaked the familiar voice,  
  
"Duo! What's happened?" She asked, kicking he feet slightly which proved to be a problem as they were tied together,  
  
"SHUDDUP!" The man growled as he flung Areia against the hard wall, that was damp and leaking some sort of brown liquid from the ceiling. Areia groaned as she hit the all too familiar floor, her face slapping against its surface,  
  
"What ya do that for?" Demanded another in similar attire, "She's the one that we gotta keep alive! Such a pretty young thing . . . too nice to be a REAL soldier!" He snickered, looking down at her, nudging her with his foot, "Hey . . . you ok?"  
  
"What do YOU think?" She snapped, trying to crawl to her hands and needs,  
  
"I meant are you still breathing?!"  
  
"Barely! What are you doing with us?"  
  
"Nothing much really . . . we figured that we'd probably get a lot of money for the pair of you!"  
  
Areia narrowed her eyes,  
  
"You wasted your time! That's not how the Preventers work!"  
  
The second man snorted, turning her head over his shoulder to the first man,  
  
"Oi! Jim! I told ya she was a toughy!"  
  
"Yeah . . . alright . . . I owe you a beer, Gene . . ." Jim chuckled, cracking his knuckled, "Who gets the first play?"  
  
"Not yet! Jeez! Keep it in yer pants for a minute, will ya?!" Gene smirked, turning his attention back to Areia as he crouched beside her, "Now, lil lady . . . this won't hurt . . . for the first few minutes . . . of course . . . then you'll be in complete agony . . . however . . . if you're lucky . . . you'll pass out for the rest of the pain . . . and the aftermath . . ." He grinned, producing a needle from what Duo and Areia had always called 'Spandex space' back when Heero had pulled guns out of seemingly nowhere.  
  
Areia narrowed her eyes and ignored the small pain as the needle punctured her skin,  
  
"You won't get away with this."  
  
"Well . . . if they don't give us our money . . . we'll just have to kill you and your lil friend then, won't we?"  
  
"I'm not afraid to die!"  
  
"Ahh . . . spoken like a true warrior!"  
  
"YEAH!" Duo cried out, "We'll take you along with us back to hell!"  
  
"Well aren't you just OH so brave? What's the story behind you two anyway? Oi! Jim! D'ya think we picked ourselves a couple of lovers?!"  
  
"We don't have to tell you anything!" Areia growled, closing her eyes as she began to feel a little bit woozy,  
  
"In short . . . a yes . . ." A third man added.  
  
Areia suddenly drew in a deep breath, her eyes squeezing shut once again,  
  
"Relax . . . you'll pass out faster . . . and trust me . . . you wanna pass out . . ." Gene soothed, running a hand through her hair gently,  
  
"Bite me!" She snapped,  
  
"Oh yes . . . I will . . . and I'll . . ." At that point, all went black.  
  
* * *  
  
Pulling him close against her, she buried her face into shoulder,  
  
"Trowa . . ." She whispered, her arms around his neck tightly,  
  
"Don't worry . . . I promise I'll be back by Christmas . . ." He soothed, running is hand over the back of her head, tilting her shin up to look at him as he brought his hand around, tracing the line of her jaw, "Kiss?"  
  
She leant up, on her tip toes, placing a gentle, teasing kiss on his lips. He smiled slightly, rubbing her cheek as a tear trickled down from a sapphire eyes,  
  
"I'm gonna miss you . . ." She sniffled,  
  
"Shhhhhh . . . it'll be alright . . . I'll be perfectly safe . . . I promise!"  
  
"I . . . I . . ." She stammered before he scooped her further up into arms, pulling her closer against him,  
  
"I love you."  
  
"I love you too." She murmured against his face, placing a small trail of tentative kisses over his face, his eyes shut slightly,  
  
"Would passengers for flight 079 please begin boarding? Thank you."  
  
"That's your flight."  
  
"Yeah . . . take care on your way back home . . . you'd better help Duo out . . . he seems to have been hitting the bar." Trowa sighed as he looked over his girlfriend's head to their friend, who sat at the bar, pint glass in hand,  
  
"Oh dear . . ." Areia sighed, "Just what I need . . ." She huffed,  
  
"I'll see you soon, love." He whispered, kissing her forehead,  
  
"Bye." She mumbled, reluctantly untwining her fingers from his long, slender ones. He backed away slowly, his eyes fixed upon hers, before sadly turning and heading down the aisle towards his flight gate.  
  
Areia turned once he was out of sight and moved towards Duo,  
  
"C'mon you!" She snapped, grabbing Duo's arm and hauling him across towards the exit.  
  
In the car, Areia drove her eyes red and swollen from crying. Duo sat numbly in the passenger seat,  
  
"Are you sure that you're ok to drive, 'Rei? I mean . . . you and Trowa are really attached . . ."  
  
"I'm fine." She sighed, now on an empty road, "I mean . . . Trowa and I . . . sure . . . we're really attached . . . I just get . . . this feeling whenever he's not around that . . . he's not safe . . ."  
  
"Don't worry Areia! Trowa's a big boy! He can take care of himself!"  
  
"Hmmmm . . . He's with Heero and Heero saved my life once . . ." Areia commented,  
  
"Yeah . . . Hee-chan's our good friend. Our life-saving friend." Duo chuckled,  
  
"I . . . just . . . its weird being engaged . . . I dunno how to explain it, but I honestly thought that we were falling into a slump. He ditched me to work almost every night. I went to bed alone and would wake up and he'd be on the computer working already . . . we were . . . unhappy . . . and then . . . all of a sudden it was like we'd just started dated again and then he proposed! I couldn't believe it! I guess that I'm worried that we're going to go back into the stage . . . however . . . oh . . . I dunno . . ."  
  
"I'm hungry . . ." Duo muttered, changing the subject,  
  
"Yeah . . . me too . . . wanna go get some Chinese? My treat?"  
  
"Chinese? You mean the buffet in town? Ok . . . sure . . ."  
  
"Y'ya know what?"  
  
"No . . . what . . .?"  
  
"Whenever I think of Chinese food, I think of Wufei's cooking back, during the war."  
  
"Awww . . . Wufei . . . dear old wuffles! For someone so annoying, he sure was a great cook!"  
  
"Hmmmm . . ."  
  
Duo vaguely registered a small glint on the road, but remained silent. Several seconds later, he found that the car was swaying and bouncing out of control, loud popping sounds exploding in succession as Areia struggled to turn the wheel in a desperate attempt at regaining control of the vehicle.  
  
It was all in vain as the car veered off of the road and hit a tree. Darkness consumed him. He woke a few seconds later, blood trickling down the side of his face. He glanced to the left of him; Areia was nestled in an air bag, unconscious. He looked forwards, his back aching, upon seeing shadows prowling in front of the vehicle; he passed out from the mental overload.  
  
* * *  
  
She awoke again, this time, she found herself untied, clothed, but sore. She groaned as she sat up, the room spinning,  
  
"You're awake." Duo stated, he leant against the far left wall, his arms were cut and bruised, his face smashed up,  
  
"Oh Duo . . ." She groaned, "What did they do to you?"  
  
"Nowhere near what they've done to you." He replied solemnly,  
  
"Oh . . . don't worry about me Duo . . . your face . . ."  
  
""It's alright Areia." He soothed as she staggered towards him, wrapping her arms around her friend, "It's alright . . ."  
  
"Duo . . . I . . . I hate to say this but . . . I'm scared."  
  
"You have nothing to worry about, alright?" He said soothingly, "They won't kill you. They need you. You'll walk free as soon as Trowa hears about this."  
  
"And you . . .?" She asked reluctantly,  
  
"Ah." He smiled timidly, "Uh . . . I don't think that I'll be that lucky . . . it was only chance that I was in the car, 'Rei? If they want you to do something for them, all they have to do is beat me once or twice and they know you'll crack . . . but you gotta promise me that you won't, you have to promise that you'll resist! Ok?!"  
  
"I . . . can't let them hurt you Duo!"  
  
"'Rei!" Duo growled, "Just . . . don't worry about me . . ." He sighed sadly,  
  
"Duo! You're my best friend! Of course I'm going to worry about you!"  
  
"Areia . . . you have to make this easy on yourself! Please!"  
  
"Why?"  
  
"Because . . . look . . . it doesn't matter!"  
  
"Yes is does! Tell me!" She huffed, clenching her fists.  
  
Duo sighed; squeezing his eyes shut, a tear slipping down his cheek,  
  
"Please Areia . . . don't make me say it . . ." He whispered. Areia took his hand in hers and gave it a quick, reassuring squeeze. He looked up at her, the concern in her eyes and let out a long, heavy sigh, "If I tell you . . . you can't tell Trowa . . . he'll kill me . . ."  
  
"I promise." She whispered,  
  
"I . . . I . . . Areia . . . I . . . l . . . love you . . ." He cringed as her hand dropped into her lap from its position on his face where it cupped his cheek, "I'm sorry . . . I really am! But . . . I just . . . I can't help it! I know you love Trowa and I know that you're happy with Trowa and . . . I . . . uh . . . sorry?!"  
  
"Shhhhhh . . ." Areia whispered, clasping Duo's hand in hers, "I'm not mad . . . I'm flattered . . . honestly I am Duo . . . but . . . you . . . oh . . . I'm so confused Duo!" She whimpered, burying her face into his chest, kicking at the dirty under her feet,  
  
"It's alright . . . we're gonna get outta here and you're gonna go back and snuggle down in bed with Tro' . . . and . . . well . . . you're going to be safe and warm and you're gonna make some lovely lil mini-Tro's with uni- bangs and vocal problems." Duo joked,  
  
"I . . . I don't know if that's what a want . . . now that I know that you . . ."  
  
"Oh god . . . what have I done?" Duo thought, "You're an indecisive one, aren't you, 'Rei?"  
  
"Can you say Hell yeah?" She whimpered,  
  
"Hell yeah . . .?"  
  
"AWRIGHT YOU TWO! GET UP!"  
  
Jim had walked in on the pair of them. He grabbed Areia's arm, dragging her across the hard floor and against a wall,  
  
"Good morning." Gene greeted, kneeling beside Areia, cupping her face in his left hand, "We called the preventers office."  
  
"And they told you to stop wasting their time, right?"  
  
"No . . . actually . . . we got a hold of an Agent Barton . . . he seemed rather aggravated when I informed him that we had Maxwell and Stevenson."  
  
"Trowa!" Areia gasped, the wind knocked out of her from Jim's assault,  
  
"Oh, is that his first name, gorgeous?"  
  
"STOP IT!" Duo screamed, "LEAVE HER ALONE!"  
  
Areia blacked out again at that point, she could feel a hot, sticky liquid seeping from a large gash at the back of her head.  
  
- - -  
  
As she awoke to the sound of gunfire, Areia's body ached; scratches and bruises covered her once pale and perfect skin. Groaning she got onto her hands and knees, crawling over to the crumpled figure of Duo that laid in the corner,  
  
"Duo . . ." She whispered, sitting so that she had her back against the wall, lifting his limp form into her arms, "Duo . . ." She whimpered feeling his light breath against her arm, "Duo please . . ."  
  
Suddenly, the door was being forced open. She tightened her grip on Duo's hand, which was covered in blood. His hair was burnt and torn from his scalp. She sobbed into his neck before shakily pressing her lips against his. Soldiers began to file into the room one at a time, securing it, however, she ignored them until someone raced up to her, dropping down beside her,  
  
"Areia . . ." Trowa panted, looking at her in dismay,  
  
"Duo . . . Duo . . . please Duo . . . stay with me . . . don't leave me . . . Duo . . . don't go!" She sobbed against him, rocking back and forth,  
  
"Areia!" Trowa said sternly as medical officers began to prise Duo away from Areia,  
  
"NO!" She screamed, clawing at them, trying to regain her hold on her friend's body, "DUO! NO! Don't take him! NO! Don't hurt him again!"  
  
"Areia . . . it's alright . . ." Trowa soothed, holding onto her tightly, holding her back as Duo was laid onto a stretcher and removed from the scene, "Areia . . . I'm hear . . ."  
  
"Duo . . ." She whimpered,  
  
"Snap out of it!" He growled, holding her firmly, "Do you even remember me? Trowa?!"  
  
"Trowa . . ." She snapped her head around to look at him, her lip quivering, "Trowa!" She exclaimed, wrapping her arms around him, sobbing loudly as he stood, allowing her to wrap her legs around his torso. He carried her out, her eyes squeezed shut.  
  
- - -  
  
Beep. Beep. Beep.  
  
Areia stared blankly at the machines before the curtain was drawn, blocking her view,  
  
"Miss Stevenson . . . I have some news . . ."  
  
"Yes?" Areia asked, looking up at the young male doctor who was of Asian decent,  
  
"I'm happy to announce that after your . . . ahem, ordeal you have suffered no major damage nor any STI's . . . nor, are you likely to get pregnant."  
  
"Oh . . . ok, how come?"  
  
"Because you're already pregnant. Congratulations."  
  
Areia bit her lower lips, nodding as she stared at the ground,  
  
"Is that bad news, Ma'am?"  
  
"No . . . it's good news . . . I'm just . . . still sore I guess . . ."  
  
"Ok . . . well . . . Agent Barton brought you some fresh clothes from home, you may dress and are free to leave whenever you like,  
  
"Thank you. For everything." Areia whispered, shaking the Doctor's hand before returning to the other side of the curtain, gripping Duo's hand, "Hear that, buddy? I'm pregnant . . .I guess that means that those mini- Trowa's are going to be making their appearance sooner than planned, eh?"  
  
Duo's face didn't change. She sniffled,  
  
"I'm sorry. It's my fault. If you hadn't of come with me when Trowa left . . . you'd be up and about . . ." She leant down, kissing his cheek softly before stepping back to change.  
  
BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEP!  
  
"NURSE!" Areia shrieked, turning her head to the door as three nurses and a doctor rushed in,  
  
"He's gone into arrest!" The doctor explained, "Get the defibrillators! QUICK!"  
  
"Duo . . ." Areia choked on a sob as a nurse pushed her back. She staggered backwards into the curtain as they rushed around, pulling out tubes and sticking in needles,  
  
"CLEAR!" The doctor yelled, placing the metal pads on his chest. Duo jumped off the bed, yet the screeching continued, "CLEAR!" he yelled for a second time, the process repeating.  
  
Areia sank to her knees, tears streaming down her cheeks as they continued to try.  
  
- - -  
  
The doctor pulled his latex gloves off of his hands, finger by finger,  
  
"Time of death?" He asked the nurse opposite him,  
  
"2:49pm, Doctor." She answered, pulling the sheet up and over Duo's head,  
  
"No . . ." Areia whimpered, clawing at the tiled floor, "NO!" She screamed, kicking at air as a nurse tried to help her to her feet,  
  
"Come along, Miss . . . it's not good for you to be here!"  
  
"DUO!" She wailed, swiping at the nurse with her finger nails.  
  
She jumped up, latching herself onto Duo's lifeless body,  
  
"Duo . . ." She said as the doctors and two of the nurses left the room.  
  
- - -  
  
"Areia . . ."  
  
Trowa's voice broke her out of her thoughts as she stood on the balcony, gently rubbing her swollen stomach idly,  
  
"Yes, Trowa?" She asked, glancing over her shoulder at him,  
  
"You'll catch your death out here." He warned,  
  
"I'm fine."  
  
Trowa lifted her hand to his lips gently, noticing the silver cross and chain tangled in her slender fingers,  
  
"Thinking of Duo again?"  
  
"Yes . . ."  
  
"We all miss him, Areia. Nothing's the same without him . . ."  
  
She nodded slightly, tears slithering down her cheeks,  
  
"It was 7 months ago . . . you'd think that I'd be over it by now, ne?" She mumbled, lacing her fingers with Trowa's,  
  
"It's alright Areia . . . I understand . . ."  
  
"Are you sure you don't mind . . . about the name . . ."  
  
"Mind . . .? I think it's a wonderful idea, Areia." Trowa whispered close to her ear, "I think Duo would be proud . . . let's face it, our little boy or girl would probably be a clone of him . . . you know Duo would make it so . . . so why not just go the whole hog and call him or her Trio?"  
  
"Are you sure?" She asked for the final time, "No going back after tonight."  
  
"I love the name Trio, Areia. Trio Barton." He said proudly, "It's more of a girls name, isn't it?"  
  
"Yeah . . . I still like it though."  
  
Trowa smiled, tightening his grip around her, pulling her back against him,  
  
"Love you Duo . . ." Areia whispered, closing her eyes as she rested her head back against Trowa's chest.  
  
- - - Owari.  
  
Well . . . that's it . . . no more sequels . . . welllllll . . . perhaps just ONE more . . . I gotta stop writing sequels to everything! I know that the last part of this was really naff . . . but I didn't enjoy writing Duo's death. He's my favourite character! ::sniffles:: I hope you like this everyone! RnR! 


End file.
